Contemporaneous capture and tagging of media evidence for education evaluation

ABSTRACT

An educational evidence and evaluation system for generating media files and context parameters and linking the media files and context parameters to education profiles during evaluation of a subject is disclosed. An example educational evidence and evaluation system comprises a capture engine that captures two media files, a context engine that tags the media files with context parameters, and a linking engine that links the media files and their tagged context parameters to an education profiles of a subject, wherein the evaluation engine links a first media file and its first context parameter to the education profile of a first subject before the capture engine captures a second media file.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/408,177, entitled “CONTEMPORANEOUS CAPTURE AND TAGGING OF MEDIAEVIDENCE FOR EDUCATION EVALUATION,” filed Jan. 17, 2017, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/267,213 entitled“CONTEMPORANEOUS CAPTURE AND TAGGING OF MEDIA EVIDENCE FOR EDUCATIONEVALUATION,” filed May 1, 2014; the entire contents of each which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates in general to evaluation within an educationalsetting. More particularly, this disclosure relates to capturing mediaevidence for evaluation of a subject.

BACKGROUND

Some evaluators find it difficult to capture media evidence to use inthe evaluation of their subjects, such as students, when the evidencebecomes available because of their busy schedule and because of thefast-paced nature of many educational settings. Some evaluators find iteven more difficult to give context to that evidence in an efficient,effective, and timely fashion because of similar constraints. Evidencemay become stale, or context may be forgotten, as more time passes fromthe date and time the evidence became available or was observed by theevaluator.

A system and method are needed for evaluators to capture, give contextto, and upload such media evidence on the fly as the evidence isobserved or shortly thereafter.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure describes, for example, an apparatus and processfor an evaluator to capture media evidence related to an evaluatee,assigning or tagging that evidence with context, and then linking thatevidence with tags to an evaluation system associated with the evaluatorand evaluate. In an illustrative example, an evaluator (e.g.instructor/teacher) may observe a student in a classroom environmentwhile the student is performing a lesson and interacting with otherstudents. The teacher may interpret the actions taken by the student asimportant for evaluation of the student. The teacher may then take apicture (still image) of the student to capture evidence of the actiontaken by the student. The teacher may then edit or tag the image withcontext, including, for example, the name of the student in the image,notes about why the image is useful evidence for the student'sevaluation, among others. The teacher may then, immediately or soonafter capturing and tagging the image, upload the image to an evaluationsystem including, for example, a student and/or classroom profile. Theteacher may then not be required to later assign context to the mediaevidence or upload the evidence into the evaluation system.

This disclosure relates in general to capturing media evidence in anevaluation setting, and more particularly but not by way of limitation,to capturing a media file, tagging that media file with contextparameters, and linking the media file and context to an evaluationsystem including subject profiles, amongst other things.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is described in conjunction with the appendedfigures:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a system for capturing media evidencefor evaluation of a subject, according to embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an example media capture device andlocal server, according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of an example evidence context engine,according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows an example of a wireless network including a media capturedevice, according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows an example of a wireless network including video cameras,according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary GUI for distributing a graphicalrepresentation of an evaluation system for linking media evidence andcontext, according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary GUI for distributing a graphicalrepresentation of an evaluation system for linking media evidence tocontext including performance indicators, according to embodiments ofthe present invention;

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary GUI/display 801 for distributing a graphicalrepresentation of an exemplary form of evidence (i.e. a picture)captured by a media capture device, according to embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary GUI for distributing a graphicalrepresentation of an evaluation system for linking a media file/evidenceand automatically captured/generated context, according to embodimentsof the present invention;

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary GUI/display for distributing a graphicalrepresentation of an exemplary form of evidence (i.e. a picture)captured by a media capture device during automatic context recognition,according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary GUI/display for distributing a graphicalrepresentation of an exemplary form of evidence captured by a mediacapture device, according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart illustrating a process for capturing andtagging media evidence for an evaluation system used to evaluate asubject, according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart illustrating a process for capturing andtagging media evidence for an evaluation system used to evaluate asubject including automatically discovered context/tags, according toembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart illustrating a process for capturing andtagging media evidence for an evaluation system and uploading thatcaptured/tagged evidence to the system, according to embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 15 shows an example environment for illustrating a process forcapturing and tagging media evidence for an evaluation system anduploading that captured/tagged evidence to the system, according toembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 16 shows an example special-purpose computer system, according toembodiments of the present invention.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have thesame reference label. Where the reference label is used in thespecification, the description is applicable to any one of the similarcomponents having the same reference label.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The ensuing description provides preferred exemplary embodiment(s) only,and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configurationof the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the preferredexemplary embodiment(s) will provide those skilled in the art with anenabling description for implementing a preferred exemplary embodiment.It is understood that various changes may be made in the function andarrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope asset forth in the appended claims.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an educationalevidence and evaluation system for generating media files and contextparameters and linking the media files and context parameters toeducation profiles during evaluation of a subject is disclosed. Theeducational evidence and evaluation system may comprise a capture enginethat receives a first input from an evaluator to capture a first mediafile; captures the first media file responsive to the evaluator's firstinput; sends the first media file for presenting to the evaluator;stores the first media file; receives a second input from the evaluatorto capture a second media file; captures the second media fileresponsive to the evaluator's second input; sends the second media filefor presenting to the evaluator; and stores the second media file. Theeducational evidence and evaluation system may also comprise a contextengine that receives a third input from the evaluator indicating a firstcontext parameter; tags the first media file with the first contextparameter; stores the first context parameter; receives a fourth inputfrom the evaluator indicating a second context parameter; tags thesecond media file with the second context parameter; and stores thesecond context parameter. The educational evidence and evaluation systemmay also comprise a linking engine that receives a fifth input from theevaluator indicating a first subject parameter for an education profileof the first subject; links the first media file and the first contextparameter to the education profile of the first subject based on thefirst subject parameter; receives a sixth input from the evaluatorindicating a second subject parameter for an education profile of thesecond subject; and links the second media file and the second contextparameter to the education profile of the second subject based on thesecond subject parameter. The evaluation engine may link the first mediafile and the first context parameter to the education profile of thefirst subject before the capture engine captures the second media fileresponsive to the evaluator's second input.

In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method forgenerating media files and context parameters and linking the mediafiles and context parameters to subject profiles during evaluation of asubject is disclosed. The method may comprise receiving a first inputfrom an evaluator to capture a first media file; capturing the firstmedia file responsive to the evaluator's first input; sending the firstmedia file for presenting to the evaluator; storing the first mediafile; receiving a second input from the evaluator to capture a secondmedia file; capturing the second media file responsive to theevaluator's second input; sending the second media file for presentingto the evaluator; storing the second media file; receiving a third inputfrom the evaluator indicating a first context parameter; tagging thefirst media file with the first context parameter; storing the firstcontext parameter; receiving a fourth input from the evaluatorindicating a second context parameter; tagging the second media filewith the second context parameter; storing the second context parameter;receiving a fifth input from the evaluator indicating a first subjectparameter for an education profile of the first subject; linking thefirst media file and the first context parameter to the educationprofile of the first subject based on the first subject parameter;receiving a sixth input from the evaluator indicating a second subjectparameter for an education profile of the second subject; and linkingthe second media file and the second context parameter to the educationprofile of the second subject based on the second subject parameter;wherein the evaluation engine links the first media file and the firstcontext parameter to the education profile of the first subject beforethe capture engine captures the second media file responsive to theevaluator's second input.

In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructionsstored thereon, which when executed by a computing device, cause thecomputing device to perform operations comprising: receiving a firstinput from an evaluator to capture a first media file; capturing thefirst media file responsive to the evaluator's first input; sending thefirst media file for presenting to the evaluator; storing the firstmedia file; receiving a second input from the evaluator to capture asecond media file; capturing the second media file responsive to theevaluator's second input; sending the second media file for presentingto the evaluator; storing the second media file; receiving a third inputfrom the evaluator indicating a first context parameter; tagging thefirst media file with the first context parameter; storing the firstcontext parameter; receiving a fourth input from the evaluatorindicating a second context parameter; tagging the second media filewith the second context parameter; storing the second context parameter;receiving a fifth input from the evaluator indicating a first subjectparameter for an education profile of the first subject; linking thefirst media file and the first context parameter to the educationprofile of the first subject based on the first subject parameter;receiving a sixth input from the evaluator indicating a second subjectparameter for an education profile of the second subject; and linkingthe second media file and the second context parameter to the educationprofile of the second subject based on the second subject parameter;wherein the evaluation engine links the first media file and the firstcontext parameter to the education profile of the first subject beforethe capture engine captures the second media file responsive to theevaluator's second input.

In an illustrative example of embodiments of the present invention, thepresent disclosure describes an apparatus and process for an evaluatorto capture media evidence related to an evaluatee, assigning or taggingthat evidence with context, and then linking that evidence with tags toan evaluation system associated with the evaluator and evaluate. In anillustrative example, an evaluator (e.g. instructor/teacher) may observea student in a classroom environment while the student is performing alesson and interacting with other students. The teacher may interpretthe actions taken by the student as important for evaluation of thestudent. The teacher may then take a picture (still image) of thestudent to capture evidence of the action taken by the student. Theteacher may then edit or tag the image with context, including, forexample, the name of the student in the image, notes about why the imageis useful evidence for the student's evaluation, among others. Theteacher may then, immediately or soon after capturing and tagging theimage, upload the image to an evaluation system including, for example,a student and/or classroom profile. The teacher may then not be requiredto later assign context to the media evidence or upload the evidenceinto the evaluation system.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a system for capturing media evidencefor evaluation of a subject, according to embodiments of the presentinvention. The system 100 includes local area network 130, local server120, external network 140, and media capture devices 110-1, 110-2,110-3, 110-4, 110-5, 110-6, 110-7, 110-8 and 110-9.

The system 100 includes a local area network 130. Local area network 130may provide a user with access to various devices (e.g. media capturedevices 110) within the network. The local area network may include oneor more gateways that provide the media capture devices to local server120 to store data captured or otherwise stored in the media capturedevices. The one or more gateways may also provide the user and thenetwork devices with access to one or more external networks, such as acloud network, the Internet, and/or other wide area networks. Access tosuch external networks allows a user to transmit data (e.g., through anetwork interface, via a network 140, through a wired communicationline, etc.) from one of the devices to the server for storage orprocessing or to an external network. For example, local area network130 may allow a user of a network device to transmit a captured image,video, or other media (e.g. media evidence captured by an evaluator) toa local server or to an external network. It is desirable for a user tobe able to access the local server and/or the external network (e.g.,using one of the network devices, such as a mobile device) while locatedwithin the local area network and also while located remotely from thelocal area network.

The system 100 includes a local server 120. Local server 120 isconfigured to receive data, such as media evidence, from a media capturedevice to store the media evidence. Local server 120 is also configuredto send data, such as media evidence, from server 120 to externalnetwork 140 to either be stored in an external server (not shown) or tobe integrated with the evaluation system.

The storage medium may be volatile (such as random access memory (RAM))and/or non-volatile (such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory,universal serial bus (USB), etc.). The storage medium may also includeremovable storage and/or non-removable storage including, but notlimited to, magnetic storage, optical disks, and/or tape storage. Thedisk drives and their associated computer-readable media may providenon-volatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, and other data for the computing devices. In someimplementations, the storage medium may include multiple different typesof memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM), or ROM.

The system 100 includes one or more media capture devices 110. FIG. 1shows the use of nine media capture devices, including media capturedevices 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 110-4, 110-5, 110-6, 110-7, 110-8 and110-9. However, system 100 may include fewer or more media capturedevices. Media capture devices 110 shown in FIG. 1 include smartphones110-1, 110-3, and 110-7, tablets 110-2 and 110-6, video camera 110-4,digital camera 110-8, and audio recorder 110-9. For purposes ofillustration and description, system 100 has been shown with a varietyof devices in random quantities. System 100 may include fewer or more ofany one of the different types of media capture devices, and may includea variety of other types of media capture devices not shown in FIG. 1.

Media capture devices 110 are configured to capture mediaevidence/files, including images/pictures, video, audio, text, and othertypes of files (e.g. media) in any format in an educational settingwhere an evaluator is compiling evidence for evaluation of an evaluatee.Media capture devices 110 may include any hardware available and capableof capturing such media. For example, smartphone 110-1 may include adigital camera, video camera and audio recording device, each of whichis capable of capturing media files (e.g. media evidence) to be storedon smartphone 110-1, edited or added to by a user, and sent to anotherpart of the system. The media file may be stored on the media capturedevice (e.g., local memory, storage medium, etc.). The media capturedevice 110 may also submit the media file to local server 120. The mediacapture device 110 may transmit the media file to local server 120without separately storing the media file on the media capture device110.

Media capture devices 110 are also configured to display the media fileto a user on a graphical user interface (GUI), display, or other deviceassociated with the media capture device configured to display a file toa user.

Media capture devices 110 are also configured to accept inputs from auser, such as an evaluator, to capture a media file, to add context tothe captured media file, and/or to send the media file to a part of thesystem outside of the media capture device. The media capture devices110 may also receive inputs from a user via an external device, such asa mouse, touch pad, keyboard, or any other input device configured to beconnected to or otherwise control inputs to such a media capture device.

In some embodiments, media capture devices 110 are also configured toconnect directly to an external network 140, such as the internet or acloud network, without first passing through local area network 130 orlocal server 120. As shown in FIG. 1, several media capture devices 110,including smartphone 110-7, audio recorder 110-9, digital camera 110-8,and tablet 110-6, all connect to the external network 140 either inaddition to or instead of to local area network 130. Although certainmedia capture devices 110 are shown in FIG. 1 as being connected tolocal area network 130, certain media capture devices 110 are shown asbeing connected to external network 140, and certain media capturedevices 110 are shown as being connected to both local area network 130and external network 140, any of the media capture devices 110contemplated herein may connected to either or both of local areanetwork 130 and external network 140 or any other network that mediacapture devices 110 are connected to.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an example media capture device 110 andlocal server 120 as shown in FIG. 1, according to embodiments of thepresent invention. For example, media capture device 110 includesnetwork interface 205, input receiving interface 215, evidence captureengine 210, evidence context engine 220, evidence and context linkingengine 225, and evaluation engine 230. Furthermore, for example, localserver 120 includes media file/evidence store 250 and evidence contextstore 260. It should be appreciated that one or more of these aspectscan also or alternatively be implemented, for example, in a differentserver (e.g. external server) or within a media capture device 110.

Media capture device 110 includes network interface 205. The networkinterface 205 allows the devices, networks, and other systems to accessthe other components of the system 100. The network interface 205includes features configured to send and receive information, including,for example, a network antenna, a modem, a transmitter, receiver,network adapter or any other feature that can send and receiveinformation. The network interface 205 can communicate via telephone,cable, fiber-optic, and other wired communication network, including thelocal area network 130 and the external network 140. In someembodiments, the network interface 205 communicates via cellularnetworks, WLAN (wireless local area networking) networks, or any otherwireless network.

The network interface 205 can also be configured to send and receivedata. In some embodiments, the network interface 205 sends mediafile/evidence, such as an image/picture, video, audio, etc. to anotherdevice, an evaluation system, or any other location useful/necessary foruse of the evidence. For example, the media capture device 110 capturesmedia and sends that media, along with any assigned/tagged context fromthe user, to another location within system 100, which is sent via thenetwork interface 205. The network interface 205 is also configured toenable to the media capture device 110 to communicate through the localarea network 130 and the external network 140.

Media capture device 110 also includes input receiving interface 215.Input receiving interface 215 allows a user (e.g. a teacher or otherinstructor) to input commands into media capture device 110. Inputreceiving interface 215 may include a touch sensitive (i.e., touchscreen) display device. Such a display device may include various tiles,interactive elements, icons, command regions, windows, toolbars, menus,and buttons that are used to initiate action, invoke routines, monitornetwork devices, control network devices, or invoke other functionality.The initiated actions include, but are not limited to, displaying astate or status of a network device, selecting a network device tocontrol and/or monitor, setting a primary function of a network device,setting a secondary function of a network device, and other inputs andgestures. Input receiving interface 215 may also include other controldevices that are not touch sensitive. For example, input receivinginterface 215 may include a mouse, keyboard, or any other input deviceconfigured to be connected to or otherwise control inputs to such amedia capture device.

Input receiving interface 215 is configured to receive various inputsfrom a user. For example, input receiving interface 215 may receive aninput from a user to capture a piece of media evidence, such as a fileincluding images/pictures, video, audio, or other types of media. Inputreceiving interface 215 may also receive an input from a user thatincludes context to be connected/tagged to the media file/evidence togive the evidence context. Input receiving interface 215 may alsoreceive inputs from the user to upload the evidence to an evaluationsystem or otherwise link the evidence to the evaluation systemassociated with the evaluatee/subject of the evidence. Input receivinginterface 215 may also receive various other types of inputs from a userassociated with embodiments of the present technology.

Input receiving interface 215 is also configured to display the capturedmedia to the user of media capture device 110. More specifically,receiving interface 215 may, after capturing media in response to aninput from a user, send the media for presenting to the user. The mediamay be presented to the user on the display device. If media capturedevice 110 is connected to another device that includes a display deviceor has any other user interface capable of displaying media, inputreceiving interface 215 may send the media to that external device fordisplaying the media to the user.

Media capture device 110 also includes evidence capture engine 210.Evidence capture engine 210 is configured to capture evidence, such asmedia evidence, related to a student or other subject being evaluated bya teacher/instructor or other evaluator. For example, when a user usesthe media capture device to capture a piece of media, such as a picture,video, audio, etc., evidence capture engine 210 captures the mediafile/evidence and is configured to quickly store the media in localstorage within the media capture device 110. The media is stored locallywithin media capture device 110 so as to allow media capture device 110to later retrieve the media so that the media capture device 110 mayassign context to the media and/or link the media to an evaluationsystem.

For example, evidence capture engine 210 may be connected to a digitalcamera, video camera or audio recorder within media capture device 110that captures media evidence. Evidence capture engine 210 is configuredto receive a signal from input receiving interface 215, after a user hasentered an input at input receiving interface 215, indicating that auser has entered an input to capture media. Evidence capture engine 210is also configured to capture the media as instructed by the user inconjunction with the media capture device 110 and the media'scorresponding hardware. Furthermore, evidence capture engine 210 isconfigured to process the captured media and process/prepare the mediafor storage/tagging, which will be discussed in further detail withrespect to evidence context engine 220.

Evidence capture engine 210 is also configured to send the media to bedisplayed to the user. Evidence capture engine 210 may send a signal tothe input receiving interface 215 within media capture device 110 forthe input receiving interface 215 to display the media to the user.Evidence capture engine 210 may also send the media to an externaldevice for displaying the media to the user.

Media capture device 110 also includes evidence context engine 220.Evidence context engine 220 is configured to assign context to a mediafile/evidence captured by evidence capture engine 210. Evidence contextengine 220 may assign context to a media file in a variety of differentways. Evidence context engine 220 is configured to receive a signal frominput receiving interface 215, after a user has entered an input atinput receiving interface 215, indicating that a user has entered aninput including context for the media evidence.

An input from a user, including context for the media evidence, may berelated to any of a variety of characteristics or parameters related tothe media file itself or the substance contained within the media file.For example, the context may include characteristics or parametersrelated to the media file itself, such as metadata including for examplethe date and/or time the media file was captured. the context mayinclude characteristics or parameters related to the substance containedwithin the media file, including for example the class or environmentwithin which the media file was captured, the lesson plan during whichthe media file was captured, one or more subject's names containedwithin the picture, video, or audio in the media file, performanceindicators related to actions the subject takes during, before and/orafter the picture, video, or audio in the media file, among many others.For example, the user may indicate in its inputted context for a certaincaptured media file that a specific student was captured in the mediafile and that that student was expressing happiness because theinstructor had just given the student toy blocks to play with.

Evidence context engine 220 is also configured to process a media fileincluding a piece of media evidence to automatically obtain context forthe media file. For example, evidence context engine 220 may process acaptured media file to obtain context for the media evidence withoutinput from a user, or independent from any input given by a user. FIG. 3shows a block diagram of an example evidence context engine 220 as shownin FIG. 2, according to embodiments of the present invention. Forexample, evidence context engine 220 includes facial recognition engine340, mood analysis engine 342, object recognition engine 344, speechrecognition engine 341, speech tone analysis engine 343, and environmentdetection engine 345. However, engines 340-345 are only exemplary andare not meant to limit the possible engines that could be includedwithin evidence context engine 220. Each of engines 340-345 may processa captured media file to obtain a different type of context for themedia evidence within the media file. For example, facial recognitionengine 340 is configured to process a captured media file, for example apicture, and determine which subjects are captured in the media evidencebased on the faces captured in the picture. Therefore, facialrecognition engine 340 may allow evidence context engine 220 toautomatically determine the names of the subjects captured in the mediaevidence so that the user does not have to separately input thatinformation as context.

In another example, evidence context engine 220 includes mood analysisengine 342 configured to process a captured media file, for example avideo, to determine the mood or temperament of any subjects within thepicture. The mood analysis engine 342 may determine a subject's mood ortemperament based on the facial expressions of the subject during thevideo, the sounds the subject makes during the video, actions thesubject takes during the video, among others. Therefore, mood analysisengine 342 may allow evidence context engine 220 to automaticallydetermine the mood/temperament of the subjects captured in the mediaevidence so that the user does not have to separately input thatinformation as context.

In another example, evidence context engine 220 includes objectrecognition engine 344 configured to process a captured media file, forexample a picture, to determine what objects are captured within thepicture. The object recognition engine 344 may determine what objectsare in a captured picture based on the shape(s) of the objects, any textwritten on the objects, the nature of any actions being taken with theobjects, among others. For example, object recognition engine 344 maydetermine that an object in the picture is a baseball based on its roundshape, its size, and that a subject is wearing a glove and is throwingthe object to another subject. Therefore, object recognition engine 344may allow evidence context engine 220 to automatically determine whichobjects are located in a piece of media evidence so that the user doesnot have to separately input that information as context.

In another example, evidence context engine 220 includes speechrecognition engine 341 and speech tone analysis engine 343 configured toprocess a captured media file, for example an audio file, and determinewhich subjects are captured in the media evidence based on the speechcaptured in the picture. Furthermore, speech recognition engine 341 andspeech tone analysis engine 343 are configured to process the capturedfile to determine a variety of other characteristics of a media file aswell, including the mood/temperament of a subject in the media file, anysounds made by objects other than a subject to determine the environmentthat the subject is in, among others. Therefore, speech recognitionengine 341 and speech tone analysis engine 343 may allow evidencecontext engine 220 to automatically determine the names of the subjectscaptured in the media evidence and/or other characteristics of theevidence so that the user does not have to separately input thatinformation as context.

In another example, evidence context engine 220 includes environmentdetection engine 345 configured to process a captured media file, forexample a picture, and determine in what setting the captured evidencetakes place based on any objects or sounds in the picture. For example,if environment detection engine 345 recognizes a plurality of desks anda blackboard in a room, the environment detection engine 345 maydetermine that the picture was taken of the inside of a classroom.Therefore, environment detection engine 345 may allow evidence contextengine 220 to automatically determine the setting and/or othercharacteristics of the evidence so that the user does not have toseparately input that information as context.

Media evidence context engine 220 may automatically determinecharacteristics about a media file, including evaluation evidence,automatically using one or more of engines 340-345 separately from or inconjunction with user inputs that include additional context regardingthe media evidence. For example, the media evidence context engine 220may automatically determine the date/time that a media file was capturedand the two students included in the media evidence, and may alsoreceive a signal from input receiving interface 215 representing aninput from a user including contextual notes from the user regardingadditional context for the captured evidence.

Referring back to FIG. 2, media capture device 110 also includesevidence and context linking engine 225. Evidence and context linkingengine 225, or evaluation linking engine, is configured to link anycontext associated with a media file including evaluation evidence,whether received from a user or automatically generated, to the mediafile. In other words, evidence and context linking engine 225 isconfigured to tag a media file with context, such as characteristics orevaluation parameters based on the media file itself or the substancecontained within the media file. Media evidence/files and context forthat evidence may be linked in different ways. For example, context maybe linked to a media file as one or more of a set of predetermined tags.In other words, the evaluation system may include a list ofpredetermined categories or labels that a user may choose from in orderto assign the content of one or more of those categories/labels to thefile. For example, the evaluation system may include a list of studentsin a class. An instructor may, before or after capturing a piece ofevidence for the evaluation system, select one or more students that arecontained in the evidence so that the evidence is linked to those one ormore students. Such a system may allow for efficient organization ofmultiple files/evidence. A user may later be able to search through (orfilter) evidence based on the predetermined categories or labels. Forexample, the user may search for only those files that were tagged for acertain student. In this way, context may be associated with evidence asmetadata. Therefore, a student name tagged on an evidence file maytravel with the evidence whenever it is transmitted from one entity toanother, and may be located later based on that tag.

Context may also be linked to a media file as non-predetermined notes,comments, edits, etc. to a media file or evidence. For example, anevaluator may simply add a comment to a picture or video explaining thecontext of the media evidence, including any observation that theevaluator made but that may not be obvious based on the evidence itself.The evaluator may also add audio, such as an audio file, to the mediaevidence with his/her own voice explaining a similar context. Theevaluator may also edit the media file, such as a picture, by markingthe picture with notes, arrows, or any other markings to give addedcontext to the evidence. For example, the evaluator may blur a subject'sface for privacy reasons. The evaluator may also add highlighting, orany other way to add emphasis to a certain portion of the evidence. Suchcontext may be associated with or tagged to a media file such that theevaluator may observe the context at any future time when the evaluatorviews the media evidence. However, such context may not be categorizedso as to contribute to the organization of either the mediaevidence/files or their associated tags.

Media capture device 110 also includes evaluation engine 230. Evaluationengine 230 is configured to send media evidence, along with any of itsassociated tags/context, to an evaluation system (or, in other words, tolink media evidence/file, along with any of its associated tags/context,to the evaluation system). The evaluation system may be stored withinmedia capture device 110, or may be stored on a server external to theevaluation system. The evaluation system may include a variety ofprofiles. For example, the evaluation system may include a differentprofile for each evaluated subject (i.e. evaluatee). A profile mayinclude one or more evaluations for its associated evaluated subject,evidence captured by an evaluator, evaluation context for one or more ofthe pieces of evidence, among other information. When evidence is taggedwith a subject's name (e.g. generated at the face recognition engine 340within media evidence context engine 220), or in other words with asubject profile parameter, and sent to the evaluation system it may thenbe associated with the subject profile associated with the subjectprofile parameter. Evaluation engine 230 facilitates the transmission ofmedia evidence captured by media capture device 110, along with anycontext associated with that evidence, to the evaluation system. Onceevidence and its associated context/tags have been transmitted to theevaluation system (and organized according to subject profiles and/orits tags), an evaluator may view and/or organize the evidence within theevaluation system. The evaluation system may include profiles based ontags/parameters other than evaluated subjects. For example, theevaluation system may be organized with profiles associated with eachevaluator/teacher, day of the school year, classroom, lesson plan,subject, student performance indicators, questions, response dialog,among others. Furthermore, since evidence may be transmitted withmultiple associated tags or context, the evidence may be linked to anyof these profiles, and therefore organized by any of its associatedtags/profiles.

Although the processes discussed herein with respect to evidence andcontext linking engine 225 and evaluation engine 230 have been discussedseparately and as a part of two separate engines, the processes may beachieved by one combined engine/device. More specifically, alinking/evaluation engine may be configured to link media evidence/filesto their respective context/tags, and also upload/send theevidence/files and their respective context/tags to the evaluationsystem and/or to an external server.

As noted, the media capture device 110 may, after capturing a media fileand assigning context to the file, upload the image to an evaluationsystem immediately or soon after capturing and tagging the image. Theuser of the media capture device may then not be required to laterassign context to the media evidence or upload the evidence into theevaluation system. Furthermore, the media capture device may capture/tagmultiple pieces of media evidence in a row, one after another.Therefore, the evaluation engine may link the first media file and thefirst context parameter to the education profile of the first subjectbefore the capture engine captures the second media file responsive tothe evaluator's second input.

The block diagram of FIG. 2 also includes local server 120. As noted,media files/evidence and their corresponding evidence context may bestored within capture device 110. Media files/evidence and theircorresponding evidence context may also be stored external to capturedevice 110 at local server 120. Local server 120 includes, for example,media evidence store 250 and evidence context store 260. Media evidencestore 250 is configured to receive data, such as media files/evidence,from a media capture device to store the media evidence. Media evidencestore 250 is also configured to send data, such as media files/evidence,from server 120 to external network 140 to either be stored in anexternal server (not shown) or to be integrated with the evaluationsystem. Evidence context store 260 is configured to receive data, suchas media files/evidence context data, from a media capture device tostore the media evidence context. Evidence context store 260 is alsoconfigured to send data, such as media files/evidence context, fromserver 120 to external network 140 to either be stored in an externalserver (not shown) or to be integrated with the evaluation system. Localserver 120 may store any information/data related to mediafiles/evidence, their associated context/tags, and any link between thetwo.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a wireless network 400, according toembodiments of the present invention. Network 400 includes media capturedevice 110, local server 120, gateway 404, external network 150, andexternal server 150. Media capture device 110, local server 120, gateway404 and external network 150 have each been described herein withrespect to FIG. 1. Media capture device 110 (e.g. smartphone, tablet,personal computer, video camera, audio recorder, etc.) may capturemedia, such as a picture or video, of one or more subjects, such assubjects 452 and 454. Subjects 452 and 454 may be students in aneducational setting such as a classroom or any other subject beingexposed to evaluation. After media capture device 110 captures a mediafile, it may store it in local storage 411. Media capture device 110 mayalso send the media file to local server 120 (directly via transmission426 or indirectly through gateway 404 via transmissions 422 and 424)and/or to gateway 404 via transmission 422. Local server 120 may thensend the media file via transmission 424 to gateway 404. Gateway 404 mayprovide the user and the network devices with access to one or moreexternal networks, such as external network 140 (e.g. cloud network, theinternet, etc.).

After media capture device 110 captures a media file, such as an imageor a video, it may need to send the file to an evaluation system. Theevaluation system may be located on external server 150, locatedremotely from a local area network including media capture device 110,local server 120, gateway 404, etc. The media capture device 110 mayalso need to send the media file to external server 150 for otherreasons, such as for external storage to allow access to the file by anexternal device or network. However, because external server 150 islocated remotely from media capture device 110, local server 120, andgateway 404, the media file may need to pass through gateway 404 and/orexternal network 140 to reach external server 150. This process may takea significant amount of time (e.g. 0.5 seconds, 1 second or multipleseconds) to reach external server 150. Furthermore, this process mayconsume significant bandwidth within the local area network betweenmedia capture device 110, local server 120, and gateway 404.Furthermore, if multiple instructors are attempting to upload/send mediafiles to external server 150 at the same time, and/or there issignificant other traffic between media capture device 110, local server120, and gateway 404, it may be beneficial to delay uploads of mediafiles to external server 150 and/or to the evaluation system. Since themedia evidence captured in these media files may be used at a later timeto compile an evaluation for a subject (e.g. student, evaluatee, etc.) ,such a delay (of e.g. 1 hour, several hours, or 1 day) may not take awayfrom the value of such a system. For example, if the system is beingused at a school, the network may be most busy between the hours of, forexample, 7:30 AM and 3:00 PM. Therefore, transferring/sending mediafiles, some of which may be large in size, through the network at thosetimes may cause latency in the network. Therefore, it may benefit thenetwork to delay the upload/sending of a media file to the externalserver 150 until after 3:00 PM when school has been dismissed. As noted,media capture device 110 may also send the media file to local server120 (directly via transmission 426 or indirectly through gateway 404 viatransmissions 422 and 424). If school is in session when the mediacapture device 110 captures, assigns context to, and uploads/sends themedia file, it may benefit the network for local server 120 to store fora period of time until school has been dismissed. After school has beendismissed, local server 120 may then send the media file viatransmission 424 to gateway 404. Gateway 404 may then send the mediafile to external server 150 via external network 140.

Local server 120 may implement any number of timing or other schemes todetermine when to send a media file 120 to external server 150. Forexample, local server 120 may send its stored media files to externalserver 150 every day at a predetermined time after 3:00 PM. Local server120 may also monitor the local network (including gateway 404 and mediacapture device 110 and any other devices on the network) and determinewhen the network has sufficient bandwidth and send the media files toexternal server 150 based on when the network has sufficient bandwidthto prevent latency in the network.

As discussed herein, media capture devices 110 may include a GUI andmedia capture device 110 is configured to display the media file to auser on the GUI, display, or other device associated with the mediacapture device configured to display a file to a user. In FIG. 4, mediacapture device 110 includes an exemplary GUI 412. GUI 412 may be atouch-screen display, which may be configured to display a picture,video or other media file and may be configured to receive inputs from auser. For example, GUI 412 may be configured to receive inputs from auser to capture media evidence, to enter context for the media evidence,link the media evidence and context to an evaluation system, among otherinputs.

As noted, an evaluator (e.g. instructor/teacher) may, after capturing amedia file and assigning context to the file, upload the image to anevaluation system immediately or soon after capturing and tagging theimage. The evaluator may then not be required to later assign context tothe media evidence or upload the evidence into the evaluation system.Furthermore, an evaluator may use the media capture device tocapture/tag multiple pieces of media evidence in a row, one afteranother. Therefore, the evaluator may upload/link the first media fileand the first context parameter to the education system (e.g. educationprofile of the subject of the first file) before capturing the secondmedia file.

Device 110 may be used in conjunction with a separate device to captureand/or store a media file. For example, device 110 may be used inconjunction with one or more video cameras. FIG. 5 shows an example of awireless network 500, according to embodiments of the present invention.Network 500 includes media capture devices in the form of video cameras532 and 536. Video cameras 532 and/or 536 may capture media, such as avideo, of one or more subjects, such as subjects 452 and 454. After thevideo cameras 532 and/or 536 captures a media file, it may store it instorage and send the file to media capture device 110. Video cameras 532and/or 536 may also stream video directly to media capture device 110 onan ongoing basis. For example, video cameras 532 and/or 536 may beplaced at different places in a classroom. Therefore, video cameras 532and/or 536 may capture video of student subjects from different anglesto give the teacher, who may be a user holding media capture device 110,multiple perspectives to choose from when choosing evidence for subjects452 and 454. While video cameras 532 and/or 536 capture video and livestream that video to media capture device 110, the teacher/instructormay choose specific portions of video from one or more perspectivesand/or give context to the evidence as it is captured. The live streamof video may be displayed on display/GUI 412, which will be discussedfurther with respect to FIG. 11. For example, the instructor may knowthat a certain event within the classroom is upcoming, and may choose toset the start time of a piece of evidence selected from the livestreaming video. However, the instructor may also spontaneously begin aselection of video for use as evidence if the instructor observes thebeginning an important piece of evidence. Subsequently, the instructormay end the section of video to be used as evidence at a specified (orspontaneously recognized) time. The instructor may then save, givecontext to, and/or send the video evidence as described herein withrespect to engines 220, 225 and 230 in FIG. 2. Such inputs from theuser, including starting and stopping a selection of video to be used asmedia evidence from a live stream, or any other input from a user, maybe received by display 412.

If a separate media capture device, such as a video camera, is used inconjunction with device 110, an engine similar to evidence captureengine 210 and a network interface 205 may instead, or in addition to,be located within the external media capture device. However, device 110may also include an evidence capture engine 210 that receives a mediafile or live streaming video from the external capture device and allowsthe user to select a portion the video or otherwise create a piece ofrelevant evidence for the evaluation system.

As noted, the instructor may then give context to video evidencecaptured as a portion of live streaming video received from videocameras 532 and/or 536. To give context to such video evidence, analgorithm may be laid over the top of the streaming video received fromvideo cameras 532 and/or 536 to allow a user to manipulate the streamingvideo into useful video evidence. For example, the video received fromvideo cameras 532 and/or 536 may be streamed into media capture device110 within a GUI that includes buttons, tiles, interactive elements,icons, command regions, windows, toolbars, menus, etc., similar to inputreceiving interface 215 described herein, to allow a user to edit, givecontext to, or otherwise manipulate the streaming video. Furthermore,the media capture device may be configured to process streaming video toautomatically obtain context for the media file. For example, evidencecontext engine 220 may process captured video to obtain context for themedia evidence without input from a user, or independent from any inputgiven by a user, using processes such as such as facial recognition,mood analysis, object recognition, speech recognition, environmentdetection, among others.

For ease of explanation, the monitoring and control operations discussedbelow with reference to FIGS. 6-11 are described in the context of anapplication executing on a media capture device 110 with a touch-screendisplay/GUI device. However, the operations are not intended to belimited to the exemplary device shown in FIGS. 6-11. It is to beunderstood that the GUIs illustrated in the exemplary embodiments ofFIGS. 6-11 can be readily adapted to be rendered on displays of avariety of computing device platforms running a variety of operatingsystems.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary GUI for distributing a graphicalrepresentation of an evaluation system for linking media evidence andcontext, according to embodiments of the present invention. For example,FIG. 6 includes a display 601 displayed on a screen associated with acomputing device, such as a media capture device, with various graphicalicons and other visual indicators that may allow a user of the device tointeract with the evaluation system. Display 601 includes an evidencesection 622 for capturing and viewing media evidence (e.g. the contentsof a media file). Evidence section 622 includes a capture button 631,which allows a user to capture evidence using the media capture device110. After a user presses capture button 631, the display 601 maypresent to the user a list of options for capturing media evidence,including but not limited to a picture using a digital camera, a videousing a video camera, audio using an audio recorder, among others. Aftera user selects one of the media evidence capture options, the user maycapture a media file/evidence, and the media evidence may be presentedto the user either in evidence section 622 on the display 601.

Display 601 may also include various sections for entering context to beassociated with the evidence captured in evidence section 622. Forexample, display 601 in FIG. 6 includes drop down menus 625, whichinclude selections for class (i.e. the class that the evaluator/subjectare physically located in for which the evidence in evidence section 622may be relevant), lesson (i.e. the lesson that the evaluator/subject areparticipating in for which the evidence in evidence section 622 may berelevant), student name (i.e. name of the subject or subjects who areeither captured in the media evidence in evidence section 622 or othersubjects for which the evidence may be relevant), performance indicators(i.e. any indicators/evaluation criteria selected by the evaluator thatthe evaluator deems relevant based on the evidence in evidence section622 may be relevant), and date, time, or weather or any otherfile/evidence background information (i.e. the date that the mediaevidence was captured). However, these drop down menus are onlyexemplary and a variety of other menus related to metadata or otherdata/context related to the evidence displayed in evidence section 622are possible. Furthermore, other types of tiles, interactive elements,icons, command regions, windows, toolbars, menus, and buttons may beused instead of the drop down menus 625 displayed in FIG. 6.

Display 601 also shows other types of context that may be selected andassigned to a media file/ evidence. For example, comments section 623may allow a user to type freehand text into the display to be associatedwith the evidence captured in evidence section 622. Such freehand textmay include a description of the evidence, notes related to theevidence, or other observations made by the evaluator that were notcaptured in the evidence. Buttons 626 include other various types ofcontext that an evaluator may give to a piece of evidence. For example,an evaluator may blur a face of a subject captured in the evidence sothat the face is not visible in a different subject's profile forprivacy purposes, may zoom in to or out from the media evidence (e.g.picture), may place a textual note within the media evidence so that aviewer will see the text when viewing the evidence, or may enhance oneor more aspects of the evidence by drawing on or otherwise pointing toaspects of the evidence.

Display 601 also includes save button 630 to, for example, save theevidence and associated context (e.g. to media evidence store 250 and/orevidence context store 260 within local server 120, as shown in FIG. 2)for later editing, and upload button 629 to, for example, upload/sendthe evidence and associated context to an evaluation system (e.g. usingevaluation engine 230, as shown in FIG. 2).

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary GUI for distributing a graphicalrepresentation of an evaluation system for linking media evidence tocontext including performance indicators, according to embodiments ofthe present invention. For example, FIG. 7 includes an exemplary displaywith performance indicators 732 that may be presented to the user afterthe user selects one or more performance indicators from drop down 628in FIG. 6. For example, display 701 includes exemplary performanceindicators/domains (shown here as drop down menus) “personaldevelopment”, “language”, “social development”, “literacy”, “physicaldevelopment”, “health”, and “mathematical thinking”. However, these dropdown menus are only exemplary and a variety of other options includingmetadata or other data/context related to the performance of a subjectare possible. For example, other indicators may include physicaldevelopment and health, social and emotional development, approaches tolearning, logic and reasoning, language development, literacy knowledgeand skills, mathematics knowledge and skills, science knowledge andskills, creative arts expression, social studies knowledge and skills,english language development, among others. Furthermore, other types oftiles, interactive elements, icons, command regions, windows, toolbars,menus, and buttons may be used instead of the drop down menus 732displayed in FIG. 7.

Because performance indicators 732 may be presented to the user afterthe user selects one or more performance indicators from drop down 628in FIG. 6, the performance indicator tags shown as options ofperformance indicators 732 may be viewed as sub-tags giving context toevidence captured and displayed in evidence section 622. In other words,such indicators give further detailed context than a more broadperformance indicator presented to and selected by a user at theperformance indicators drop down menu 628 in display 601. As such, thecontext associated with a given piece of evidence may comprise severaldifferent levels of detail based on the evaluation system that theevaluator is working with and based on the selections that the evaluatormakes within that system. On the other hand, some selections may be theonly one or last in a line of selections/levels of context. For example,display 701 also shows already selected class 733 (“preschool 1”) andstudents 734 (“Johnny Q” and “Jennie P”).

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary GUI/display 801 for distributing a graphicalrepresentation of an exemplary form of evidence (i.e. a picture)captured by a media capture device 110, according to embodiments of thepresent invention. More specifically, display 801 shows a representationof a picture taken by a media capture device, including subjects 452 and454, blocks 856 and file/evidence upload section/button 858, but notwithin the context of an evaluation system. Instead, after a picture orother media evidence has been captured by a media capture device 110, auser may be offered the option to connect/link the media evidence to theevaluation system by pressing on button 858. Thereafter, the user may bepresented with various options for linking the picture to the evaluationsystem, such as a list of portions of the evaluation system to which theuser would like to link the evidence and/or various types of context asdescribed herein. For example, a piece of media evidence may be directlylinked to a specific subject profile based on the subjects in thepicture or for which a subject may be relevant, or may be presented tothe user within the evaluation system in, for example, evidence section622 as shown in FIG. 6 so that different types of context may bepresented to the user for linking to the media evidence before uploadingto the evaluation system.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary GUI for distributing a graphicalrepresentation of an evaluation system for linking a media file/evidenceand automatically captured/generated context, according to embodimentsof the present invention. For example, FIG. 9 includes a display 801displayed on a screen associated with a computing device, such as amedia capture device, with various graphical icons and other visualindicators that may allow a user of the device to interact with theevaluation system. Display 901 includes, similar to FIG. 6, an evidencesection 622 for capturing and viewing media evidence. Evidence section622 includes a capture button 631, which allows a user to captureevidence using the media capture device 110. Display 601 may alsoinclude various sections including context associated with the evidencecaptured in evidence section 622. However, different than as shown inFIG. 6, display 601 may include evidence contextcharacteristics/parameters 970 that have been automaticallycaptured/generated without user input. For example, instead ofdisplaying options on a display for the user to choose from and/orenter, such as a student name, the system has discovered that certainstudents (Johnny Q and Jennie P) are captured in the media evidencecaptured by the media capture device 601. While the user may edit thediscovered subject names, the user may decide not to edit them if theywere discovered correctly. Such automatically discovered contextparameters may be captured using facial recognition. Various other typesof automatic systems/engines may be used to automatically discoverdifferent context parameters, including, mood analysis engine, objectrecognition engine, speech recognition engine, speech tone analysisengine, and environment detection engine, and others discussed withrespect to evidence context engine 220 in FIG. 2. However, as noted,these engines are only exemplary and are not meant to limit the possibleengines that could be included within evidence context engine 220. Asshown in FIG. 9, various evidence characteristics may be automaticallydiscovered using these processes/engines, including the date/time themedia file/evidence was captured, the room location where the evidencewas captured, the class during which the evidence was captured, theteacher (or other evaluator) that captured the evidence, among manyothers shown in FIG. 9 and not shown in FIG. 9.

Although FIGS. 6 and 9 are shown with manually entered contextparameters and automatically discovered context parameters,respectively, manually entered and automatically discovered contextparameters may be mixed in a variety of ways within one exampleevaluation system and/or with respect to a given piece of mediaevidence. For example, certain parameters may be automaticallydiscovered by the evaluation system or other engine on media capturedevice 110, while other parameters related to the same media evidencemay be prompted for by the media capture device and entered by a user.For example, comments section 623 may be manually prompted for, whilethe date/time may be automatically captured. Furthermore, a certain typeof parameter may be manually entered or automatically entered fordifferent types of media evidence and for different examples of anyspecific type of media evidence, depending on the circumstances and thetype of media evidence.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary GUI/display 1001 for distributing a graphicalrepresentation of an exemplary form of evidence (i.e. a picture)captured by a media capture device 110 during automatic contextrecognition, according to embodiments of the present invention. Morespecifically, display 1001 shows a representation of a picture taken bya media capture device, including subjects 452 and 454 while, forexample, facial recognition is in progress to determine contextincluding determining, for example, subject and object identifications.As noted, facial recognition engine 340 discussed with regard to FIG. 3is configured to process a captured media file, for example a picture,and determine which subjects are captured in the media evidence based onthe faces captured in the picture. Therefore, facial recognition mayallow for the automatic determination of the names of the subjectscaptured in the media evidence so that the user does not have toseparately input that information as context. Similarly, as noted, theobject recognition engine 344 discussed with regard to FIG. 3 maydetermine what objects are in a captured picture based on the shape(s)of the objects, any text written on the objects, the nature of anyactions being taken with the objects, among others. Therefore, objectrecognition may allow for the automatic determination of which objectsare located in a piece of media evidence so that the user does not haveto separately input that information as context.

FIG. 10 also includes boxes 1062, 1064 and 1066 that represent therecognition of faces and objects for determining the identification ofthose faces and objects as generated by, for example, facial recognitionengine 340 and object recognition engine 344, respectively. However,such engines/processes may automatically recognize evidence to assigncontext to the evidence without displaying boxes 1062, 1064 and 1066, oranything at all. Furthermore, other forms of automatic detection ofcontext (e.g. environment recognition) may be performed in a similarprocess.

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary GUI/display 1101 for distributing a graphicalrepresentation of an exemplary form of evidence (i.e. one or multiplevideos) captured by a media capture device 110, according to embodimentsof the present invention. More specifically, display 1101 shows arepresentation of videos taken by media capture devices, such as videocameras, including subjects 452 and 454. As shown in FIG. 11, display1101 includes a display/graphical representation 1198 of video (e.g.live video stream) received from video camera 1 and a display/graphicalrepresentation 1194 of video (e.g. live video stream) received fromvideo camera 2. Display 1101 may be similar to display 412 as shown inFIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, the split displays 1198 and 1194 mayrepresent different video cameras placed in different portions of thesame room, such as a classroom, and configured to capture video ofsubjects 452 and 454 at different angles or from different perspectives.

Display 1101 also shows control devices 1199, including stop, play,pause, record, pin/tag time and playback buttons. Control devices 1199allow a user to control video streams, such as live video streams,received from two video cameras. For example, an instructor may select acertain portion of a certain one or both of the cameras as evidence tobe associated with certain subjects within the evaluation system bypressing the “Pin/Tag Time” button. The instructor may know that acertain event within the classroom is upcoming, and may choose to setthe start time of a piece of evidence selected from the live streamingvideo. However, the instructor may also spontaneously begin a selectionof video for use as evidence if the instructor observes the beginning animportant piece of evidence. Subsequently, the instructor may end thesection of video to be used as evidence at a specified (or spontaneouslyrecognized) time by pressing the “Pin/Tag Time” button again. Theinstructor may then save, give context to, and/or send the videoevidence as described herein. For example, a user may press one ofbuttons 1199, the “Context” button, that may, for example, provide theuser with various options for giving context to the selected videoevidence (such as, for example, display 701 in FIG. 7 or display 901 inFIG. 9), may provide the user with a separate screen for providingcontext (such as, for example, display 601 in FIG. 6), among variousother possibilities.

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart illustrating a process 1200 for capturing andtagging media evidence for an evaluation system used to evaluate asubject, according to embodiments of the present invention. Step 1202includes capturing/generating a media file or piece of media evidence(e.g. a picture or video). For example, this step may be taken by amedia capture device, such as media capture device 110, in response toan input from a user. A media file/evidence may be captured for thepurpose of being uploaded into the evaluation system, or a previouslycaptured media file may be uploaded after being previously captured. Instep 1204, the media capture device may store the evidence in storage.For example, the evidence/file may be stored in storage within the mediacapture device, on a local server, or on an external server, among otherpossibilities. In step 1206, the media capture device sends/presents thecaptured file/evidence to the user on the media capture device or on anexternal display. For example, the evidence may be presented to the useron a GUI, touch screen, etc. as discussed herein.

In step 1208, the media capture device may receive an input including atag/context for the captured file/evidence. For example, a user mayselect one of a list of predetermined tags within one or more of severaldifferent categories of tags to give the evidence context. Furthermore,a user may input non-predetermined context in the form of text, editing,or any other context that adds value to the evidence for the purpose ofbeing useful for a subject evaluation. For example, a variety ofexemplary contexts are described herein with respect to FIG. 6. In step1210, the media capture device may store the tag/context in storage, andthen in step 1212 may link the tag/context to the captured evidence. Forexample, this step allows for the context/tags associated with theevidence to be sent with the evidence when uploaded to the evaluationsystem.

In step 1214, the media capture device may receive an input indicating asubject evaluation profile to which the evidence (and its associatedcontext/tags) should be associated. For example, a user may indicatethat a piece of evidence should be associated with Johnny Q and JennieP's profiles (e.g. as shown in FIG. 7). Therefore, the captured mediaevidence may be associated with those profiles based on the user input.In step 1216, the media evidence and its associated context/tags may belinked to the indicated profiles.

In step 1218, the media capture device may upload the evidence and itsassociated evaluation context to the evaluation system. For example, theevaluation system may be stored on the media capture device itself, on alocal server, on an external server, or elsewhere. After the mediafile/evidence and its associated context has been uploaded to theevaluation system, the media capture device may capture a new piece ofevidence (and start again at step 1202).

Although the above process 1200 was described with respect to beingperformed by a media capture device, various other devices may performthese steps (e.g. a local or external server or other device).

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart illustrating a process 1300 for capturing andtagging media evidence for an evaluation system used to evaluate asubject including automatically discovered context/tags, according toembodiments of the present invention. Process 1300 is substantiallysimilar to process 1200 shown in FIG. 12, except for steps 1308 and1314. Step 1308 includes automatically evaluating evidence forcharacteristics related to predetermined context/tags. In other words,in step 1308 the media capture device automatically processes the mediaevidence to discover characteristics about the media file itself and/orthe content of the media evidence within the file that may associatecontext tags with the file/evidence. For example, the media capturedevice may automatically assign a date and/or time to the file based onwhen the media file was captured. As another example, the media capturedevice may use recognition to determine subjects or objects capturedwithin the content of the media evidence and/or other characteristics ofthe media evidence. This process is described further with respect to,for example, FIGS. 3 and 9.

Step 1314 includes automatically evaluating evidence for characteristicsrelated to predetermined subject profiles. In other words, in step 1314the media capture device automatically processes the media evidence todiscover which subject profiles the evidence should be associated with.Thereafter, the media capture device may present that information to theuser on a display. This step may relieve the user from the step ofactively selecting one or more user profiles or other profiles to whichthe captured and tagged evidence should be associated.

Although the above process 1300 was described with respect to beingperformed by a media capture device, various other devices may performthese steps (e.g. a local or external server or other device).

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart illustrating a process 1400 for capturing andtagging media evidence for an evaluation system and uploading thatcaptured/tagged evidence to the system, according to embodiments of thepresent invention. Process 1400 is substantially similar to process 1200shown in FIG. 12, except for step 1414. Step 1414 includes a delaybetween steps 1404, 1410 and 1412 before uploading the evidence andassociated evaluation context to, for example, an external server. Morespecifically, step 1414 includes such a delay until a predeterminedamount of time has passed, a predetermined time of day has occurred, oruntil the network through which the evidence would have to travel hassufficient bandwidth. For example, since the media files may be used ata later time to compile an evaluation for a subject (e.g. student,evaluatee, etc.) , such a delay (of e.g. 1 hour, several hours, or 1day) may not take away from the value of such a system. And, if thesystem is being used at a school, the network may be most busy (and withthe least amount of bandwidth available) between the hours of, forexample, 7:30 AM and 3:00 PM.

Although the above process 1400 was described with respect to beingperformed by a media capture device, various other devices may performthese steps (e.g. a local or external server or other device).

Referring next to FIG. 15, an exemplary environment with whichembodiments may be implemented is shown with a computer system 1500 thatcan be used by a designer 1504 to design, for example, electronicdesigns. The computer system 1500 can include a computer 1502, keyboard1522, a network router 1512, a printer 1508, and a monitor 1506. Themonitor 1506, processor 1502 and keyboard 1522 are part of a computersystem 1526, which can be a laptop computer, desktop computer, handheldcomputer, mainframe computer, etc. The monitor 1506 can be a CRT, flatscreen, etc.

A designer 1504 can input commands into the computer 1502 using variousinput devices, such as a mouse, keyboard 1522, track ball, touch screen,etc. If the computer system 1500 comprises a mainframe, a designer 1504can access the computer 1502 using, for example, a terminal or terminalinterface. Additionally, the computer system 1526 may be connected to aprinter 1508 and a server 1510 using a network router 1512, which mayconnect to the Internet 1518 or a WAN.

The server 1510 may, for example, be used to store additional softwareprograms and data. In one embodiment, software implementing the systemsand methods described herein can be stored on a storage medium in theserver 1510. Thus, the software can be run from the storage medium inthe server 1510. In another embodiment, software implementing thesystems and methods described herein can be stored on a storage mediumin the computer 1502. Thus, the software can be run from the storagemedium in the computer system 1526. Therefore, in this embodiment, thesoftware can be used whether or not computer 1502 is connected tonetwork router 1512. Printer 1508 may be connected directly to computer1502, in which case, the computer system 1526 can print whether or notit is connected to network router 1512.

With reference to FIG. 16, an embodiment of a special-purpose computersystem 104 is shown. The above methods may be implemented bycomputer-program products that direct a computer system to perform theactions of the above-described methods and components. Each suchcomputer-program product may comprise sets of instructions (codes)embodied on a computer-readable medium that directs the processor of acomputer system to perform corresponding actions. The instructions maybe configured to run in sequential order, or in parallel (such as underdifferent processing threads), or in a combination thereof. Afterloading the computer-program products on a general purpose computersystem 1526, it is transformed into the special-purpose computer system104.

Special-purpose computer system 104 comprises a computer 1502, a monitor1506 coupled to computer 1502, one or more additional user outputdevices 1630 (optional) coupled to computer 1502, one or more user inputdevices 1640 (e.g., keyboard, mouse, track ball, touch screen) coupledto computer 1502, an optional communications interface 1650 coupled tocomputer 1502, a computer-program product 1605 stored in a tangiblecomputer-readable memory in computer 1502. Computer-program product 1605directs system 104 to perform the above-described methods. Computer 1502may include one or more processors 1660 that communicate with a numberof peripheral devices via a bus subsystem 1690. These peripheral devicesmay include user output device(s) 1630, user input device(s) 1640,communications interface 1650, and a storage subsystem, such as randomaccess memory (RAM) 1670 and non-volatile storage drive 1680 (e.g., diskdrive, optical drive, solid state drive), which are forms of tangiblecomputer-readable memory.

Computer-program product 1605 may be stored in non-volatile storagedrive 1680 or another computer-readable medium accessible to computer1502 and loaded into memory 1670. Each processor 1660 may comprise amicroprocessor, such as a microprocessor from Intel® or Advanced MicroDevices, Inc.®, or the like. To support computer-program product 1605,the computer 1502 runs an operating system that handles thecommunications of product 1605 with the above-noted components, as wellas the communications between the above-noted components in support ofthe computer-program product 1605. Exemplary operating systems includeWindows® or the like from Microsoft® Corporation, Solaris® from Oracle®,LINUX, UNIX, and the like.

User input devices 1640 include all possible types of devices andmechanisms to input information to computer system 1502. These mayinclude a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a scanner, a digital drawing pad,a touch screen incorporated into the display, audio input devices suchas voice recognition systems, microphones, and other types of inputdevices. In various embodiments, user input devices 1640 are typicallyembodied as a computer mouse, a trackball, a track pad, a joystick,wireless remote, a drawing tablet, a voice command system. User inputdevices 1640 typically allow a user to select objects, icons, text andthe like that appear on the monitor 1506 via a command such as a clickof a button or the like. User output devices 1630 include all possibletypes of devices and mechanisms to output information from computer1502. These may include a display (e.g., monitor 1506), printers,non-visual displays such as audio output devices, etc.

Communications interface 1650 provides an interface to othercommunication networks and devices and may serve as an interface toreceive data from and transmit data to other systems, WANs and/or theInternet 1518. Embodiments of communications interface 1650 typicallyinclude an Ethernet card, a modem (telephone, satellite, cable, ISDN), a(asynchronous) digital subscriber line (DSL) unit, a FireWire®interface, a USB® interface, a wireless network adapter, and the like.For example, communications interface 1650 may be coupled to a computernetwork, to a FireWire® bus, or the like. In other embodiments,communications interface 1650 may be physically integrated on themotherboard of computer 1502, and/or may be a software program, or thelike.

RAM 1670 and non-volatile storage drive 1680 are examples of tangiblecomputer-readable media configured to store data such ascomputer-program product embodiments of the present invention, includingexecutable computer code, human-readable code, or the like. Other typesof tangible computer-readable media include floppy disks, removable harddisks, optical storage media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, bar codes,semiconductor memories such as flash memories, read-only-memories(ROMs), battery-backed volatile memories, networked storage devices, andthe like. RAM 1670 and non-volatile storage drive 1680 may be configuredto store the basic programming and data constructs that provide thefunctionality of various embodiments of the present invention, asdescribed above.

Software instruction sets that provide the functionality of the presentinvention may be stored in RAM 1670 and non-volatile storage drive 1680.These instruction sets or code may be executed by the processor(s) 1660.RAM 1670 and non-volatile storage drive 1680 may also provide arepository to store data and data structures used in accordance with thepresent invention. RAM 1670 and non-volatile storage drive 1680 mayinclude a number of memories including a main random access memory (RAM)to store of instructions and data during program execution and aread-only memory (ROM) in which fixed instructions are stored. RAM 1670and non-volatile storage drive 1680 may include a file storage subsystemproviding persistent (non-volatile) storage of program and/or datafiles. RAM 1670 and non-volatile storage drive 1680 may also includeremovable storage systems, such as removable flash memory.

Bus subsystem 1690 provides a mechanism to allow the various componentsand subsystems of computer 1502 communicate with each other as intended.Although bus subsystem 1690 is shown schematically as a single bus,alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may utilize multiple bussesor communication paths within the computer 1502.

Specific details are given in the above description to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it is understoodthat the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details.For example, circuits may be shown in block diagrams in order not toobscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances,well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniquesmay be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring theembodiments.

Implementation of the techniques, blocks, steps and means describedabove may be done in various ways. For example, these techniques,blocks, steps and means may be implemented in hardware, software, or acombination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing unitsmay be implemented within one or more application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signalprocessing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers,micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed toperform the functions described above, and/or a combination thereof

Also, it is noted that the embodiments may be described as a processwhich is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a swim diagram, a dataflow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although adepiction may describe the operations as a sequential process, many ofthe operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. Inaddition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process isterminated when its operations are completed, but could have additionalsteps not included in the figure. A process may correspond to a method,a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a processcorresponds to a function, its termination corresponds to a return ofthe function to the calling function or the main function.

Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software,scripting languages, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardwaredescription languages, and/or any combination thereof. When implementedin software, firmware, middleware, scripting language, and/or microcode,the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may bestored in a machine readable medium such as a storage medium. A codesegment or machine-executable instruction may represent a procedure, afunction, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, asoftware package, a script, a class, or any combination of instructions,data structures, and/or program statements. A code segment may becoupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/orreceiving information, data, arguments, parameters, and/or memorycontents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed,forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memorysharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may beimplemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) thatperform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable mediumtangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing themethodologies described herein. For example, software codes may bestored in a memory. Memory may be implemented within the processor orexternal to the processor. As used herein the term “memory” refers toany type of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile, or otherstorage medium and is not to be limited to any particular type of memoryor number of memories, or type of media upon which memory is stored.

Moreover, as disclosed herein, the term “storage medium” may representone or more memories for storing data, including read only memory (ROM),random access memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, core memory, magnetic diskstorage mediums, optical storage mediums, flash memory devices and/orother machine readable mediums for storing information. The term“machine-readable medium” includes, but is not limited to portable orfixed storage devices, optical storage devices, and/or various otherstorage mediums capable of storing that contain or carry instruction(s)and/or data.

While the principles of the disclosure have been described above inconnection with specific apparatuses and methods, it is to be clearlyunderstood that this description is made only by way of example and notas limitation on the scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for generating media evidence andcontext parameters and linking the media evidence and context parametersto an evaluation system, the method comprising: receiving, at a networkdevice on a network, first data captured by a first video media capturedevice in a classroom environment, wherein the first data includes firstvideo media associated with one or more subjects in the classroomenvironment; receiving, at the network device, second data captured by asecond video media capture device in the classroom environment, whereinthe second data includes second video media associated with the one ormore subjects in the classroom environment, and wherein the second videomedia provides a different perspective of the classroom environment ascompared to the first data; receiving, at the network device, an inputfrom an evaluator that indicates that a video portion of the first videomedia or second video media is media evidence associated with evaluationof the one or more subjects; determining, using content of the mediaevidence, one or more context parameters associated with the mediaevidence; tagging the media evidence with the context parameters; andtransmitting, from the network device, the tagged media evidence to theevaluation system, wherein the evaluation system is configured todisplay education profiles and media to the evaluator, and wherein thetransmitting of the tagged media evidence to the evaluation systemfacilitates presenting the tagged media evidence and the one or morecontext parameters associated with the media evidence to the evaluator.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the networkdevice, an initial input from the evaluator to capture video media dataassociated with the one or more subjects, and wherein receiving thefirst and second data are responsive to the initial input.
 3. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: determining, based on the content of themedia evidence and the one or more context parameters, one or morematching data items within the evaluation system associated with themedia evidence; and linking the media evidence to the matching dataitems within the evaluation system after the media evidence istransmitted to the evaluation system.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising: linking the media evidence and the one or more contextparameters to an education profile of a first subject based on the oneor more matching data items.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, at the network device, a second input from theevaluator to adjust the media evidence or context parameters associatedwith the first media file; receiving, at the network device, one or moreadditional context parameters associated with the media evidence; andtagging the media evidence with the one or more additional contextparameters.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the context parametersinclude one or more of classroom subjects, classrooms, students, moodsof students, actions of students, objects detected in a classroom, date,and time.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining thatan available bandwidth on the network is above a threshold bandwidth fortransmitting the media evidence to the evaluation system.
 8. The methodof claim 7, further comprising: determining, at a first time, that theavailable bandwidth on the network is below the threshold bandwidth fortransmitting the media evidence to the evaluation system; monitoring thenetwork over a period of time to determine when the available bandwidthon the network rises above the threshold; and determining, at a secondtime later than the first time, that the available bandwidth on thenetwork is above the threshold bandwidth for transmitting the mediaevidence to the evaluation system based on the monitoring.
 9. The methodof claim 7, wherein the threshold bandwidth is a predeterminedbandwidth, wherein the predetermined bandwidth is a minimum amount ofbandwidth that allows the media evidence to be transmitted to theevaluation system in a certain amount of time.
 10. The method of claim7, further comprising: automatically determining the threshold bandwidthbased on a measured latency of a file being transmitted through thenetwork.
 11. The method of claim 7, further comprising: determining thethreshold bandwidth using an educational calendar to determine when aschool day for the evaluator is completed.
 12. The method of claim 7,wherein the available bandwidth is automatically determined usingbandwidth data collected from monitoring the network over a period oftime.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting themedia evidence to a display device, wherein the display device isconfigured to display an education profile of a subject with the mediaevidence.
 14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium havinginstructions stored thereon, which when executed by a computing device,cause the computing device to perform operations comprising: receiving,at a network device on a network, first data captured by a first videomedia capture device in a classroom environment, wherein the first dataincludes first video media associated with one or more subjects in theclassroom environment; receiving, at the network device, second datacaptured by a second video media capture device in the classroomenvironment, wherein the second data includes second video mediaassociated with the one or more subjects in the classroom environment,and wherein the second video media provides a different perspective ofthe classroom environment as compared to the first data; receiving, atthe network device, an input from an evaluator that indicates that avideo portion of the first video media or second video media is mediaevidence associated with evaluation of the one or more subjects;determining, using content of the media evidence, one or more contextparameters associated with the media evidence; tagging the mediaevidence with the context parameters; and transmitting, from the networkdevice, the tagged media evidence to the evaluation system, wherein theevaluation system is configured to display education profiles and mediato the evaluator, and wherein the transmitting of the tagged mediaevidence to the evaluation system facilitates presenting the taggedmedia evidence and the one or more context parameters associated withthe media evidence to the evaluator.
 15. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising instructions which, when executed by a computing device,cause the computing device to perform operations comprising: receiving,at the network device, a second input from the evaluator to adjust themedia evidence or context parameters associated with the first mediafile; receiving, at the network device, one or more additional contextparameters associated with the media evidence; and tagging the mediaevidence with the one or more additional context parameters.
 16. Themethod of claim 14, further comprising instructions which, when executedby a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operationscomprising: determining that an available bandwidth on the network isabove a threshold bandwidth for transmitting the media evidence to theevaluation system.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprisinginstructions which, when executed by a computing device, cause thecomputing device to perform operations comprising: determining, at afirst time, that the available bandwidth on the network is below thethreshold bandwidth for transmitting the media evidence to theevaluation system; monitoring the network over a period of time todetermine when the available bandwidth on the network rises above thethreshold; and determining, at a second time later than the first time,that the available bandwidth on the network is above the thresholdbandwidth for transmitting the media evidence to the evaluation systembased on the monitoring.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein thethreshold bandwidth is a predetermined bandwidth, wherein thepredetermined bandwidth is a minimum amount of bandwidth that allows themedia evidence to be transmitted to the evaluation system in a certainamount of time.
 19. The method of claim 16, further comprisinginstructions which, when executed by a computing device, cause thecomputing device to perform operations comprising: automaticallydetermining the threshold bandwidth based on a measured latency of afile being transmitted through the network.
 20. A system for generatingmedia files and context parameters and linking the media files andcontext parameters to an evaluation system, the system comprising: anetwork device, configured to: receive first data captured by a firstvideo media capture device in a classroom environment, wherein the firstdata includes first video media associated with one or more subjects inthe classroom environment; receive second data captured by a secondvideo media capture device in the classroom environment, wherein thesecond data includes second video media associated with the one or moresubjects in the classroom environment, and wherein the second videomedia provides a different perspective of the classroom environment ascompared to the first data; receive an input from an evaluator thatindicates that a video portion of the first video media or second videomedia is media evidence associated with evaluation of the one or moresubjects; determine, using content of the media evidence, one or morecontext parameters associated with the media evidence; tag the mediaevidence with the context parameters; and transmit the tagged mediaevidence; an external evaluation system server, configured to: receivethe tagged media evidence; and display education profiles, the taggedmedia evidence, and the one or more context parameters associated withthe media evidence to the evaluator.